Page 45 of Virelai’s Hoard (The Dagger & Tide Trilogy #1)

Calla’s eyes widened briefly, but her face composed itself in a blink.

She was sitting on an improvised cot, feet dunked in a bucketful of seawater.

How long had she been sitting like that?

She looked stiff. Riley wondered if Calla wasn’t cold, though she didn’t notice any shivering despite the chill in the air.

Or maybe that was just her. After the ghost ship, Riley’s limbs hadn’t quite warmed up.

The fingers inside her gloves felt ice cold.

Would Calla’s fingers be that cold if she touched her?

The fleeting thought was puzzling. She let her grin become wider.

“Why are you here, Riley?”

The question was cold. Just cold. It didn’t hold the heat of anger, the resentment of betrayal, any hint of feeling at all. Riley’s grin fell. She forced a playful smile to replace it. It felt wobbly on her lips, hard to maintain. But what was the alternative?

“Thought I’d check up on you,” she said.

“Didn’t want you to get lonely. It’s dark in here.

” She tilted her head as she asked, “Do you need anything? Figure the galley is empty at this time of night if you want some…” she gestured vaguely with one of her hands, “whatever it is you creatures like to eat.” You creatures.

Fuck. She was really bad at this, whatever this was.

What was she even trying to do? “Wouldn’t have any issue sneaking in and bringing you something. ”

As Calla rose a single, sculpted brow at her, Riley realized she was rambling.

She stopped. Her heart beat faster at the look in those eyes, as if they were seeing right through her.

Calla was the one who was imprisoned, but it was Riley who felt caged under that intense, knowing gaze.

There was no hurt there, only patient disapproval, and it made her jaw clamp tight.

Why did that bother her? She should be relieved.

“Yes, I’m aware you’re very good at sneaking inside places you shouldn’t,” Calla said mildly. “But I don’t need anything. You can go.”

No anger, no swearing, not even a hint of tension in her body. The cold dismissal, impossibly, pissed Riley off. It fueled her act. She pouted, resting her cheek on her fist now. “Don’t tell me you already replaced your favorite cupbearer. That would really hurt my feelings.”

Nothing. Just obstinate silence.

She didn’t have to force a huff out of her lips. That one felt easy. “Fine,” she said. “Maybe you don’t need anything. But I figured you’d at least want this back.”

At that, she pulled Calla’s journal out. She leaned down from her chair to press it on the floor and slide it past the prison bars. And this time, it was there, in the way Calla’s eyes snapped to hers. A spark of something. Anger, maybe.

Riley pretended not to see it, pretended she wasn’t pleased by it. “Oh, and this.” This time, she rolled over a pencil. “Figured it’d give you something to do, besides brooding all day.”

Calla’s jaw worked as she stared at the items on the floor. Slow as the tide, her nails dug into the edge of her cot, though she didn’t move from where she was sitting. “I don’t brood,” she said eventually. Her voice was harder than before, tight with things she was holding back.

Riley could guess at what at least one of those things was.

You had no right.

It sat heavy in the air between them.

She acknowledged it, hoping to draw more of a reaction.

Maybe she was just being sadistic, punishing Calla with her need to repent.

“I didn’t take you for an artist, you know.

I thought I’d find something useful, but…

” She shrugged, then planted her chin on her fist as she studied the captain, the way her lips twitched, her grip on the cot now so tight the wood creaked softly in the silence between them.

It would take more than this still to make her crack.

“So…” Riley trailed off. “What was the purpose of all this? Why did you want the Heart?” she asked casually. She glanced at the journal on the floor. “You seemed obsessed with it.”

Calla closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath in.

It made Riley’s chest ache. Suddenly, she realized that maybe she didn’t want to know. But she held her breath, waited, heart pounding against her ribcage. Hadn’t she done enough damage? Why was she doing this now? It was like she couldn’t help herself.

When Calla opened her eyes again, her face was serene. “You’re smart enough. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Riley stared at her for a while. Why wasn’t she lashing out? Why wasn’t she cursing at her? Why was this woman so infuriatingly composed, even after Riley had ruined everything for her? This didn’t make any sense.

“Now, if you’re done, I’d like to get some sleep.”

Riley’s grin was more like a flash of teeth this time. She stood. “Sure thing, captain. See you around.”

She didn’t miss Calla’s flinch at being called captain , but she didn’t dig this time. She was too scared of what she would find if she did. So she left. Like the coward she already knew she was.

Only a few moments later, it was Riley who flinched, and her steps faltered as she exited the brig. A figure, leaning against the wall, shrouded in darkness.

The figure stirred, coming in the soft glow of the nearest lantern. It was Eryx. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” they said with a sheepish smile. “I just…” They looked down at their feet. “I need to find Sable. Would you come with me?”

Riley peered down the narrow corridor at both sides to see if anyone else saw her coming out of the brig. It was empty. She crossed her arms, shifting the weight on her feet. “Why?”

Eryx chewed on their lip, still looking down, hands buried in the deep pockets of their trousers. “I want to see that compass.”

“I meant, why do you need me to go with you?” Riley asked. Her curiosity was already piqued, though.

Sable had taken one look at that compass and determined it was broken, but Eryx saw things no one else did.

Despite herself, Riley trusted them. If she hadn’t followed their advice on that ghost ship, she might’ve become one of those ghosts, might’ve traded a living captain for a dead one.

For some reason, Eryx seemed to trust her back, as unwise as that was on their part.

If they could sense the secrets of the sea, how was it they couldn’t sense the blackness of Riley’s heart?

In the silence that stretched, Eryx’s cheeks flushed.

“You two, you’re close. Right?” They looked up at her briefly, then their gaze darted anywhere but at Riley.

It was funny, almost. Hadn’t they and Kittredge teased her about that just days ago?

“I don’t know if she’ll listen to me, but she might listen to you. Plus, uh… she’s a little scary.”

Riley’s lips twitched at that. She’d been intimidated by the first mate too, before she saw beyond the act. Unbeknownst to many, Sable cared. She cared too much.

“Ok,” she said, as if she’d ever considered turning down insight into the Heart of the Abyss. It would be hers soon. The more she knew about it, the better. “I’ll come with you.”

When Eryx didn’t move, Riley’s eyebrows rose.

“ Now ?” she asked.

Eryx nodded.

Fair enough. Out of everyone on this ship, Sable was the least likely to be asleep. Not with the Stingers chasing at their heels.

After meticulously combing the ship, they found Sable on the gundeck, snapping at Ignatius. Or the gunner snapped at her. Or they snapped at each other. Snapping in general was certainly occurring.

“This is my job, captain ,” Ignatius sneered as he followed Sable around, from cannon to cannon. “You don’t need to concern yourself with my cannons. They’re in perfect state. Ready to fire at your command.”

“And it’s my job to make sure you do your job right,” Sable snapped, not even looking at him as she carefully checked over each cannon, the crates of ammunition, and strange objects Riley had never paid any attention to before.

There were two things Riley didn’t miss, though.

She might not be familiar with cannons, but she was familiar with people.

Sable hadn’t corrected Ignatius’ use of captain.

And Ignatius seemed on the verge of exploding.

His lips puckered with such force they were almost white, in contrast with the dark flush in his cheeks.

Before this escalated any further, Riley cleared her throat.

Both their heads snapped in her direction.

“Sable?” she asked, ignoring the grumpy gunner. “Can we have a word? It’s important.” She wasn’t sure about that part, but the both of them were wound so tight it wouldn’t be smart to interrupt them without a good reason.

Eryx looked uncertainly between her, Sable, and Ignatius, as if they were regretting this already.

With a searching look in their direction, Sable stood from the mouth of the cannon and folded her arms. “Leave us,” she told Ignatius.

Ignatius gaped at her. “This is my space.”

Sable’s lips twitched halfway to a snarl. “Careful there, gunner. My patience is far thinner than Calla’s.”

Riley didn’t think it was possible for Ignatius’ skin to get a deeper shade of red, but it did.

By the look on his face, if she were closer to him, she’d probably hear his teeth gnashing together.

But he was wise enough to keep himself in check.

He didn’t reply. He just glared at Sable, then glared at the two of them, then shoved past Eryx on his way out.

Rude .

“Well?” Sable asked.

Riley glanced at Eryx, who was looking anywhere but at Sable, their fingers twiddling with the edge of their shirt. She sighed. “Eryx here was wondering if they could take a look at that compass.”

Sable blinked at her.

“The one from the, uh, ghost ship?”

“You made me piss off Ignatius for that?” Sable asked, bemused.

Riley’s lips twitched. She crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows at Sable. “You were well on the way to doing that all by yourself. I just sped up the process.”

A scoff broke out past Sable’s lips, releasing some of the tension from her shoulders.

She dug through her pockets as she approached, fishing out the brass compass and holding it out to Eryx.

“I don’t bite, you know?” she said as Eryx gingerly picked up the compass.

She snuck a glance at Riley when she said that, as if she wanted to add something, but thought better of it.

Riley smothered the smile that wanted to break out.

Eryx, on their part, ignored both of them as soon as they flipped open the compass.

They frowned down at it for a moment, then they started walking around the gundeck.

Riley and Sable both watched the young sailor in growing confusion as they did a round of the floor, turned on themselves several times, then stopped at a single point and announced, “It’s not broken.

” Their voice was soft, but the tone didn’t hint at any shreds of self-doubt.

A statement spoken so certainly as if they’d claimed the sky was blue.

“Why won’t it point north, then?” Sable asked, joining them and peering at the compass.

Riley joined them, too. The hand of the compass wasn’t swinging wildly anymore. Well, it was still swinging rapidly, but not in circles. Its efforts were concentrated in the direction Eryx was facing. They all looked at the wall now, as if they could stare through it and at the sea beyond.

“Because that’s not where the Heart is,” Eryx said simply.

The implication dropped like an anchor between them.

“It’s leading us to the treasure,” Sable said, letting out a soft breath in realization.

Eryx nodded. “It’s not far. I can take it to Merrow if you’d like. He can adjust the course to get us there.”

Sable looked from the compass to Eryx, then nodded.

Eryx closed the lid and dropped the compass into their pocket, but before they could leave the room, the ship lurched. They all froze on the spot.

“Did we… hit something?” Riley asked.

Slowly, Sable slid her machete out of its scabbard.

Riley’s blood froze in her veins as, from the corner of her eyes, she saw what Sable saw.

The gunport through which the closest cannon faced the sea wasn’t showing water at all.

Her gaze fully dragged to the hole. Instead of dark skies and water, the view portrayed… wood. The wood of another ship’s hull.

“We just got boarded,” Sable said, her voice hard as steel.